For Haas F1 Team Principal, Austrian Günther Steiner, the move to 24 races next season, including three in the United States (Austin, Miami, Las Vegas), represents a risk.

"Twenty-four races is enough. We have to stabilize at the level where we are, in my opinion, and not do more races", believes Steiner, while Qatar and China should return to the world calendar after a short absence.

For the Team Principal of Williams F1, the German Jost Capito, "it's a big change to have 22 races this year and 24 next year. It's a lot for the teams and we can see that at the end of season everyone is exhausted, can't wait for it to end".

There are two Grands Prix left this season, in Brazil and Abu Dhabi, but the two world championship titles, for drivers and constructors, are already guaranteed to Max Verstappen, fourteen times victorious in twenty races, and Red Bull Racing.

"I don't know if we're losing audience, but I know that for the teams, in terms of logistics, everything becomes very complicated. I think it's already a big change to go to 24 races a year, so we have to wait to see if we can do 25 or 26," added Capito.

"For four or five years, since Liberty Media took control of F1, there has been a lot of change, but at some point you have to calm down," said Steiner, whose team is American, as the promoter and F1 owner.

"In the United States, you have to stay at three races, not try to do four or five in two or three years, otherwise it will be too much", adds the Austrian for whom it is necessary to wait a few years before wondering how to make F1 grow even more.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was with Steiner and Capito this weekend in Las Vegas to promote next year's Grand Prix.

For him, "there is no point in slowing down. We must focus on our future growth," he told AFP.

"Just two years ago people were saying that F1 was on a downward slope. I'm very happy to see that's not the case," said Domenicali, former sporting director of Scuderia Ferrari.

"Twenty-four races is a lot. It could be less. Or more. But it's that we, as + business +, are able to offer the fans. We can be proud of what we we did," added Domenicali.

© 2022 AFP